Archive for the ‘Dharamshala’ Category

Chinese authorities are to arrange fresh talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama “in the near future”, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua has said.

From the BBC

The agency quoted an unnamed government official as saying the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet should “treasure this opportunity” and respond positively.

The Dalai Lama gestures as he begins three-days of Buddhist teachings in Dharamshala. China on Wednesday told Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to treasure the opportunity of a fresh round of talks, as it confirmed the meeting would be held soon.(AFP/File/Lobsang Wangyal)

Last weekend, the Dalai Lama said he was losing hope that dialogue with China would achieve any settlement.

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Anti-China protests that erupted in March in Tibet – the worst in two decades – were crushed by Chinese security forces.

In the aftermath, China promised fresh talks over the disputed territory, but the Dalai Lama recently suggested such gestures were insincere.

‘Despite the riot’

Xinhua quoted the government official as saying that Chinese authorities would “arrange another round of contacts and negotiation with the private representatives of the Dalai Lama ‘in the near future’ at the request of the Dalai Lama side”.

The report said such talks would be held “despite the Lhasa riot in March and some serious disruptions and sabotages to the Beijing Olympic Games by a handful of ‘Tibet independence’ secessionists”.

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Several dozen Tibetans in India on Sunday unveiled an “independence torch” in New Delhi that will be carried around the world in an anti-China protest ahead of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.Tibetan activists carry an “Independence Torch” during a rally in New Delhi on March 30, 2008. Several dozen Tibetans in India on Sunday unveiled an “independence torch” in New Delhi that will be carried around the world in an anti-China protest ahead of the Summer Olympics in Beijing.(AFP/Manpreet Romana)

The torch was brought from the northern Indian town of Dharamshala — home to the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, and the government-in-exile.

The next stop for the protest flame is San Francisco, where the real Olympic torch is expected on April 9.

“This relay is to protest Chinese rule in Tibet. We also don’t want the Olympic torch to go to Tibet because it is not a part of China,” said Urgyen Chophel, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress.

China has come under increasing international pressure over its crackdown against protesters in the Tibetan capital Lhasa and Chinese provinces bordering the Himalayan region.

Tibetan activist groups have put the death toll from weeks of unrest at 135-140 Tibetans. China says rioters killed 18 civilians and two police officers.

Protesters disrupted the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony in Greece last Monday.

BEIJING, March 30, 2008 (AFP) – China on Sunday stepped up security on the eve of the arrival of the Olympic torch from Greece, where protesters angry over Beijing‘s crackdown in Tibet tried to disrupt the handover of the flame.

Authorities in Beijing clamped down on Tiananmen Square, where the torch will be officially welcomed to the country on Monday before a worldwide relay expected to be dogged by protests over the deadly unrest in Tibet.

Tensions continued to simmer in the Himalayan region, with activist groups reporting a fresh protest in Lhasa at the weekend, while in neighbouring Nepal, police baton-charged Tibetan protesters Sunday, detaining more than 100 people.

In Athens, Greek officials handed the Olympic flame to the head of the Beijing organising committee, Liu Qi, after police arrested a handful of protesters shouting “Free Tibet”.

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed Chinese “oppression” in Tibet on Friday as thousands of Tibetan exiles cheered her arrival in this Indian hill town to meet the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan spiritual leader-in-exile the Dalai Lama (L) shows US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi the palace temple in Dharamsala. Pelosi slammed Chinese “oppression” in Tibet on Thursday as thousands of Tibetan exiles cheered her arrival in this Indian hill town to meet the Dalai Lama.(AFP/Manan Vatsyayana)

In a trip that angered Chinese officials, she flew into Dharamshala, seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile, to pay the first high-level call on the spiritual icon after anti-Chinese riots erupted in Tibet nearly two weeks ago.

“Speaking for myself, I would say if freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China‘s oppression in Tibet, we have lost our moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world,” said Pelosi, draped in a golden scarf given to her by the Dalai Lama.

“The situation in Tibet is a challenge to the conscience of the world. What is happening, the world needs to know,” she told thousands of refugees waving Tibetan and US flags, who roared with approval.

“We are with you to meet that challenge. We are with you in this challenge.” The northern town was jammed with crowds of refugees, some with children hoisted on shoulders, and maroon-robed monks. Streets were festooned with banners proclaiming “American-Tibet Friendship.”